PRAGATHI: January 2010

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Public Consultation Meeting at Hyderabad on BT Brinjal !

I am blogging this while listening to the discussions of different people on BT Brinjal. Some farmers are for it and some others against it. People who are for it argue that BT Brinjal is advantageous in the sense that పురుగు మందులు వాదనవసరము లేదు. ఇది ఎక్కువ డబ్బులు తెచ్చి పెడుతుంది రైతులకు. మందులు కొట్టి కొట్టి చనిపోతున్నాము అంటున్నారు , దీనికి పురుగు మందులు కొట్ట కుండానే మంచి పంట,,ఆదాయము వస్తుంది అని వాదిస్తున్నారు.

People who are against it say that - ప్రజలు మరియు జంతు జాలం ఇవి తిని చని పోతున్నాయి మరియు జన్యు మార్పు చేసినందువల్ల భూసారము తగ్గుతుంది.
It is hard to believe that farmers are ignorant of the long term repurcussions with BT Brinjal. They just think that it would get them good money without using pesticides.To my understanding, the fertility of the soil does not last long if someone continue cultivating the Bt Brinjal. Green peace is doing wonderful job to educate the farmers and the people.
The solution which may help the farmers to avoid Bt Brinjal is - to go for organic farming(initially may not be very profitable though) which does not need pesticides and also do not affect the fertility of the soil. Surprisingly, no one farmer spoke about this kind of solution at the meeting.

Gujarat likely to say no to Bt brinjal

Ahmedabad: Will the Gujarat government give its approval to the cultivation of Bt brinjal in the state? Though the state government is yet to take a formal decision in the matter, the initial indications are that it is inching towards a clear stand on the issue - saying no to Bt Brinjal if it threatens health.

The state’s forest and environment department has stated that Bt brinjal seeds will kill the biodiversity of the soil and deprive it of its natural richness. The agriculture department is waiting for scientifically prepared reports but the state agriculture minister, Dileep Sanghani, said that they will not give their approval if Bt brinjal has an adverse impact on people’s health. “We will not do anything that poses a threat to human health,” Sanghani told DNA.

Kapil Shah, an activist who has been campaigning against the introduction of Bt brinjal, says that agriculture researchers appeared to be undecided in the matter. While they approved of Bt brinjal’s capacity to increase agricultural productivity, they were apprehensive about its negative impact on human health. Gujarat health minister Jay Narayan Vyas refused to comment on the issue but he did say that we “should not rush into it”.

Gujarat’s opinion on the subject is import

ant as it is one of the few states where Bt cotton farming, the only other genetically modified crop introduced in India, is cultivated extensively.

During the public consultation meeting in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, Union minister of state, environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh, had said that the feedback from Gujarat’s farmers and activists who have had first hand experience of Bt cotton, is very important. The minister has sought opinions from all chief ministers.

Orissa, West Bengal and Karnataka are expected to say no to Bt brinjal.

The state’s principal secretary, environment and forests SK Nanda told DNA that genetically modified food crops would affect Gujaratis extensively as most people in the state were vegetarian.

“There are 180 varieties of brinjal seeds, which give the vegetable a lot of variation in taste,” Nanda said. “Moreover, the richness of the state’s soil will be lost. Uniformity will suppress diversity. We will be killing our biodiversity.”

Please watch a video to know the history of Brinjal at Video on BT Brinjal

GEAC clears BT Brinjal

Andhra Pradesh Govt opposed BT Brinjal